Discussion Topics for Today's Classroom

Posts Categorized: Consumer Technology

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has sold all his shares in Apple over concerns about the technology firm’s prospects in China. At one point last year, he owned 53 million shares worth $6.5bn. Source: BBC Date: April 28th. 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36166867 Discussion 1) Clayton Christensen wrote a book called the Innovators Dilemma which describes how companies overshoot the… Read more »

Source: CNN Tech Date: April 23rd, 2016 Link to video: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2016/04/20/facebook-mostly-human.cnnmoney/index.html Discussion 1) Is this really “more compassionate products”? 2) The video talks about using an algorithm to surface favourite posts from the pasts. How might other organizations use this sort of algorithm to better serve their own customers?

In a tie-up between South African technology firm Dimension Data and networking giant Cisco, the technology will track vehicles and people entering the reserve rather than animals. Source: BBC Technology Date: April 23, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36105738 Discussion 1) In what other areas could this technique be used to protect? 2) Why is Cisco doing this project?

The wedge-shaped Kindle Oasis is a petite and pocketable new e-reader from Amazon that sacrifices a bit of battery life to fit in the palm of your hand. Source: CNN Tech Date: April 15th, 2016 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/13/technology/kindle-oasis-amazon/index.html Discussion 1) Amazon “is obsessed with studying how people read. It does field research, following readers around on their commute… Read more »

Like many Bostonians, Joann Becker uses her smartphone to find the nearest bus stop. Unfortunately, GPS is only accurate give or take 30-feet, and unlike most people, Becker can’t look up to see exactly where the bus is going to stop. Becker is blind. Source: CNN Tech Date: April 15th, 2016 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/12/technology/google-org-blind-waze/index.html Discussion 1) The goal here is… Read more »

Digital technology could transform the way we design and build our homes and hopes that his project can do for buildings what Uber and AirBnB have done for the taxi and hotel industries respectively. “There is something fundamentally wrong with our housing economy – our dependence on a few large development companies to buy the… Read more »

No longer satisfied with being the dominant network for our humble species, Facebook is now courting a different type of user: bots. And eventually you’ll be able to talk to them as if they were your friends. “Could you transfer £100 to my brother, please?” you might one day ask your bank. Or maybe, “Do… Read more »

From a watch which can provide feedback on your golf game to a heart rate tracker which can tell you how much effort you are putting into your exercise. Source: BBC Date: April 10th, 2016 Link to video: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35874870 Discussion 1) The push towards wearable tech is clearly taking off, and there are some amazing devices featured in… Read more »

The Microsoft Hololens, an augmented reality headset which allows the user to view the real world overlaid with objects realised with computer graphics, is ready to be sent to developers. Source: BBC Date: April 10th, 2016 Link to video: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35931289 Discussion 1) How might a company like one of the Big 4 accounting firms (KPMG, PwC, E&Y, Deloitte)… Read more »

Arlo Gilbert – chief executive of health app specialists Televero – has Revolv set up in his home. He calls controlling all of his devices like conducting a “beautiful orchestra of home technology”. The orchestra will stop playing on 15 May when Nest switches the Revolv system off. To be clear – that doesn’t just mean… Read more »